News Article

Regional development agency One North East has awarded more than £1.65m of funding to the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), ensuring its growth over the next three years.

The funding has come through the Agency’s Single Programme.

NEPIC provides over 500 of the region’s pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical and support companies with a network to share methods of best practice and allows its members to work together to generate investment, attract more-science based companies into the region, improve manufacturing capability and raise the chemical industry’s profile nationally and internationally.

Ian Williams, Director of Business and Industry at One North East, said: “The process industry is making a massive contribution to the region’s economy, with 20 per cent of the UK’s production capacity based here and five of the world’s leading speciality chemicals companies with significant assets here.

“NEPIC plays a central role in support of the development of the industry in the region.

“The organisation is expecting the sector to grow by 50 per cent to £13.3bn by 2015 and create an additional 12,000 new jobs. Therefore the benefits it will bring to the North East are enormous and why we’ve awarded a further £1.65m over the next three years on top of the £1.4m we’ve invested previously.”

The additional funding from One North East, which was approved by the Agency’s Board, will support the further growth of the Process Industries, particularly the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, polymers and speciality and industrial biotech industry sectors.

It comes just a week after it was announced that £1.7m of funding had been awarded to create a new partnership led by One North East, NEPIC and North East Biofuels to support the region’s first Biofuels Strategy.

NEPIC, which acts as a catalyst for new businesses and enables the sector’s supply chain to be more visible, has its headquarters at Wilton in the Tees Valley, with a second base in Sunderland.

As well as One North East, it is also supported by the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and the Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence (PICME).

Stan Higgins, Chief Executive of NEPIC, said "The success of NEPIC arises from the industry leadership of all its activities. By focusing our actions towards the growth needs of the sector, creating a learn-together culture and building the trust to share experiences, we have enabled our sector to demonstrate its true potential to be the power house of the North East economy.

“Together with our members, One North East, the Centre for Process Innovation and other partners, we have been able to identify a portfolio of £9 billion of potential investments for the region and to date have seen £7 billion of these opportunities captured. Industry leaders have advised us that this would not have been achieved without the creation of the cluster and its industry leadership.

“We have been supported tremendously by One North East over the last three years and are proud to have been awarded a further three years of funding to continue our work towards building the region into the premier location in Europe for this sector.”

The Regional Economic Strategy recognises the importance of the Process Industry sector, positioning it as a key area for delivery through its ‘Three Pillars’ programme.

With a gross domestic product (GDP) nearing £10bn, the process industry also accounts for some 25 per cent of North East England’s economy.

And in terms of jobs, it directly employs 34,000 people across Northumberland, Durham, Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley, with another 280,000 employed indirectly.

Ian Williams added: “The impact NEPIC has made since its launch in 2005 has been substantial, helping position the Tees Valley and the North East as a leading location for companies in the sector. This additional funding will allow even more growth, further boosting the region’s economy.”

For more information please contact Leanne English in the press office at One North East on (0191) 2296738, 07917 232678 or email Leanne.English@onenortheast.co.uk.